Seven Times Kate Hugged Hotch and It Was Weird and One Time It Wasn't
by Meowser Clancy
Summary: A cutesy story with cake where Kate lets it slip that Hotch means more to her than, perhaps, he should.
1. Cake

Seven Times Kate Hugged Hotch and It Was Weird and One Time It Wasn't

by Meowser Clancy

a/n: totally random thoughts. i do love 'seven times' etc stories lol

She was a hugger. Kate never apologized for that. She'd learned, over the years, that there were people you didn't hug, and she'd learned to, well, not hug them.

Reid, she sometimes hugged. He was the type who needed it, but to do it too much would ruin it.

JJ was the same. Hugs were good when appropriate. Penelope almost always greeted with a hug, no matter the person, and Rossi was more the cheek kiss type.

Morgan would give her a fist bump most of the time and Hotch...

Hotch was the type you didn't hug. He was the type who wanted to keep that untouchable image, and she'd seen him step away from enthusiastic interns.

But she put this by the wayside when he brought her a cupcake on her birthday.

They were in Texas on a kidnapping case, and Kate was exhausted. She'd been up since six a.m., and it was nearing midnight now. Her birthday had come and almost gone and that was fine. She'd missed many birthdays by now.

She was waiting in the SUV; she and Hotch were coming back from talking to the only witness and it had been a two hour drive back to their hotel.

He'd stopped for gas and gone into the gas station. He came out with a bag, didn't say anything as he started the SUV, but when they reached the hotel, and Kate got out, Hotch came around to her side, staying close to her as they walked in.

She took it more as his natural protective side coming out than anything else; it was definitely dark out, but he seemed to walk a little closer than usual.

"Hey," he said. "It's almost midnight so I have to do this soon." He stopped them, a couple feet from the door. "Happy birthday, Kate."

He handed her the bag and she took it in astounded silence.

"You...know?"

"It's on all your paperwork," he said. "Of course I know."

"Well, no, obviously, but...you remembered," Kate said, feeling tears in her eyes.

He smiled slightly, his hand moving to brush away the sole tear that escaped from her eye. "I did," he said. "Barely in time. Now come on. I bet Reid and JJ want some of that cupcake."

He slung an arm around her in a brotherly hug, and Kate went in for the full monty, throwing her arms around him and stopping them midstep, feeling the bag swing back to stop.

"Thank you," she whispered against his tie, feeling that it was already damper.

"You're welcome," Hotch replied, his arms tight around her, his hands warm on her shoulders.

And then he was pulling away, sudden abruptness in his motions. "Come on," he said. "Inside."

Kate scrambled after him, feeling how the moment changed, but not regretting it, even with the look on his face. She shouldn't have done that. But who cares. It was her birthday.


	2. Tears

The second time it happens she's saying goodbye. The team had had a long hard day. Morgan spent the whole plane ride home plugged in to his head phones, and that wasn't unusual, but his colder than usual demeanor was.

No one was happy.

Kate had been here over a year now and everything still intrigued her. As much as it made sense, some wounds ran so deep. And she just wanted to help. A natural healer, her mom had called her. She'd wanted her to become a doctor. That Kate had ultimately chosen the FBI had pained her mother deeply. But you can't deny a calling. Shouldn't, at least.

And now here Kate was. The team had disembarked and she was the last to leave the plane, lingering for reasons she didn't bother to examine. Didn't want to. Was afraid to.

And suddenly Hotch was there, back up the steps, peering at her. "Kate? Everything okay?"

She nodded, grabbing her bag. "I just couldn't find my phone," she fibbed. "But I have it now."

she knew he'd see through her but it didn't matter. He's profile that she was feeling the same feelings everyone else was right now.

He'd be right. But not completely. Explaining how she was feeling, what she was feeling right now, was too hard for even Kate.

She found herself stepping forward, bag in hand, and then she couldn't hold herself back. Arms extended and she dropped the bag and threw her arms around Hotch. She felt the threat of tears subside. A little. Finally felt safe to pull back. "Sorry, sir." She didn't look him in the eyes. "Long day."

He clapped a hand on her shoulder as they started to leave. "But it's over."


	3. Papers

The third time it happens, Kate gets that call.

Chris wanted her to sign the divorce papers.

She stared at the packet of paper in her hands, almost not even reading the words clearly typed there in clean, black ink.

Her lawyer had gone over the drafts with her and she gave it a cursory reading before signing her name, scribbling the signature right above where Chris's name was, her heart pinching a little to see his sloppy handwriting already on the page, and then tossing the papers on the fax machine.

So this was it. Their lawyers would get these filed by the end of the day and then Kate was a free woman.

And she'd failed. Failed at being a wife, failed because she'd been married for so long and had never had children. Failed because the man she'd once loved hadn't been right for her and she should have known better.

She left the copy room, papers clutched in her hand, eyes unseeing as she headed back for her office.

"Whoa!"

Damn it.

She slammed into Hotch, and the papers went everywhere, and he was crouching on the floor with her picking them up, as she rubbed her head. "I'm sorry," she gasped. "My mind was on another planet."

"It's okay," he assured her. "What's up?"

And with those words, he looked down to finish gathering the papers, and caught the words on the first page. "Oh."

"Yeah," she whispered, feeling herself deflate.

"You know," Hotch began, after a beat, straightening to stand and extending his hand to her to help her up. "It doesn't mean you failed."

She grabbed his hand, feeling him guide her up, feeling the ease with which he did it. He was so strong. And his words shot straight to her heart. How on earth had he known that that was what she was feeling?

"I don't know how you feel right now, but I was a wreck, after things ended with Haley," Hotch continued in a soft voice, lowering it even more when Gina passed by. "And just know that you can talk to someone about this. A counselor or...just me." He smiled a little, no joy in his face. "I'm here, you know."

"Thanks," she managed, and before she could stop herself, wrapped her arms around his waist for one brief second, inhaling the scent of him, and trying to buck herself up for the work day ahead. "Okay. I'm good now." Hotch's arms settled around her, for just a second, before she pulled back and he moved to straighten his jacket, not looking at her face now, handing her the documents back.

"But not just this second," he cautioned. "We've got a case."

"Of course," Kate said.

"Do you need a minute?" He wondered.

"No, sir, I'm like a boy scout, remember?"

He smiled again, this time some of the motion reaching his eyes. "Always prepared."


	4. Shoulder

Kate reached for her duffel bag, winced at the pain in her shoulder, and it fell to the ground. She only just got out of the way.

"Kate, don't try to be a hero," Derek said, reaching to grab it before she could. "You do realize you got shot yesterday, right?"

"It was a flesh wound," Kate sighed. "Please, let me have my bag."

"I'm taking it out to your car and I'll leave it there," Derek said.

"Fine," she replied. "Um. Thank you."

"You're welcome," he said, exiting the plane and leaving her alone with Hotch.

These feelings of hers were always strongest on the airplane, she'd realized.

She saw him finish packing up his briefcase, as always neat and ordered.

"You had a rough day yesterday," he commented, standing up. "Do you need a ride home?"

"I'll be fine," she said. "I can drive one handed."

"That only sounds like yes," he replied. "Let me give you a ride. Or catch up to Derek."

"You'd have to drive back here, it wouldn't make sense at all," she said.

"No," Hotch said. "It could. We'll take my car and I'll pick you up before work tomorrow."

Her heart jumped into her throat, which was stupid. Of course he was taking care of her.

"Am I cleared for light duty then?" She wondered, as they walked off the plane. It was a cold day and even wearing a coat, Kate shivered.

"Unless you want the day off," he said. "It's up to you."

"How early should I get up?" She asked, turning to face him. Her bag was indeed by her car, and Hotch reached to pick it up.

"How early do you think I get to work?" He asked. "You do realize I have to help a school aged kid get ready."

"I guess I just always pictured you leaving at midnight and returning by 5 a.m.," she joked.

He just looked at her, shaking his head, but there was a smile on his face that he couldn't quite conceal.

By the time he'd reached her apartment, they'd been joking almost the whole time. Hotch jumped out of the car to grab her bag, something which Kate once again protested, and then they stood together on the sidewalk. It felt like months since she'd last been alone with him like this.

"Thank you, for the ride, for everything," she said softly, and leaned in for a hug. He carefully patted her back, making sure to avoid her shoulder.

"I'll see you tomorrow at 8," he said. "Be ready."

It felt like it took him longer to pull away than usual. But she had to be imagining that...right?


	5. Late

Hotch was late to pick her up, and that was just weird. At 8:05, she tapped her phone open, swiping to text messages. She wondered what to say. Asking if he was okay felt premature, and she didn't want to seem impatient.

Traffic?

She finally typed and hit send, her stomach again jumping. Getting dressed this morning had looked painful so she'd put on a sweater dress, since not having to wrestle with pants and buttons sounded less tiring. She wasn't cleared for active duty so it didn't really matter what she wore anyway. She looked professional (enough) and she was going to ask Garcia for help with her hair once she got there. Doing it one armed wasn't good enough, and she'd barely managed a ponytail.

Two minutes passed, and he still hadn't replied. Now she was worried, wondering what to do. Call an Uber? They wouldn't let her inside the gates.

She had to finish that report today or she'd take his offer and just stay home, but she wondered why he wasn't there. She finally decided to call Garcia, but was even more unhappy once the tech genius answered her question.

Hotch was already at work.

He hadn't picked her up. And he'd ignored her text.

She had no idea how to feel about that, but Garcia told her that JJ wasn't in yet, because she'd had the morning off.

Kate texted JJ, who replied that she could pick her up on the way in, and Kate went back inside her apartment building to wait.

She had no idea what this meant.

* * *

JJ came up once she got there, and helped Kate finish her hair and makeup.

"Thank you so much for doing this," Kate said. "I feel so helpless but raising my arm is hell."

"It's ok to ask for help," JJ reminded. "Want to stop for coffee on the way in?"

"Always," Kate joked. She was walking out to the car with JJ when her phone started to ring. It was Hotch. She ignored it, but he called twice more on their way in to work.

"Anything important?" JJ asked on the third call.

"Telemarketers," Kate replied, and JJ nodded.

"I thought we all had unlisted numbers," she said a moment later. "Isn't that your work phone?"

"Right?" Kate said. "I don't know how they got it, I need to talk to Garcia about it."

She had a feeling JJ knew she'd fibbed, but the other agent didn't press it anymore.

When they walked in, Hotch was standing in his office door, and he immediately gestured for Kate to come over. Now.

JJ raised an eyebrow, settling in at her desk. Kate walked the bullpen to his office, and he shut the door behind them.

"I'm really sorry about this morning," he said. "I had to come in at...5 a.m. due to an emergency and my phone has been shut off since then. I've been in meetings all morning, and I haven't had a chance to get back to you. I am so sorry."

"It's fine, you didn't have to pick me up in the first place," she said, ducking her head.

"Then why didn't you pickup when I called?" He asked, his voice almost dangerous. "I'm your section chief, Callahan. You can't just ignore my calls."

"I was in the car with JJ and it felt rude," she finally replied.

He raised an eyebrow. "You were mad at me," he stated.

"Yes...sir," she finally replied, drawing the words out.

"You don't have to call me sir," he said, sounding tired.

"Well, you seemed angry with me for something that you did first," she replied.

"I was worried," he shot back.

"So was I," Kate said. "You're the organized one, am I supposed to believe you just forgot about me? I don't know which is worse, that I'm so unimportant that you did forget, or that you just didn't care enough to let me know."

She stood up. "Callahan, sit back down," he said.

"This meeting is over," she replied, leaving the office.

She wondered if she'd get written up.

* * *

He came to her desk around 6, after most of the other agents had filtered out. "Kate," he said, and his use of her first name made her shiver. He'd been barking Callahan all day, and this felt too personal. "Again, I'm sorry about this morning. I swear I didn't forget but I didn't have an opportunity to text you."

"I'm sorry too," she replied.

"Can I give you a ride home?" He asked, after it was clear that she wasn't saying anything else.

She stood up, and he stood with her. "No," she replied. "But thank you."

"Kate," he said, laying a hand on her shoulder. "No hug?"

She felt frozen, and stared up at him.

"I'm sorry," he apologized again. "That was entirely inappropriate."

She slowly moved forward, qwrapped her arms around him for an embrace that lasted entirely too long. "Yeah," she said, pulling away. "It was inappropriate."


End file.
